Ajijic is a former fishing village on the north shore of Lake Chapala, about 45 minutes south of Guadalajara. I was fortunate to have lived there for several years before the town was changed by the influx of North American retirees and some of the worst elements of North American culture, including fast food chains, drugs and the SUV.

Writing a description for this series is difficult, because the the photographs are very personal. Though I grew up in Ohio and live in Dallas, Ajijic has become my home, a place where I met my wife, where my mother and brother are buried, and where I rediscovered the direction I had lost in my work. The photographs are about the traditions of the town, and the quieter, less commercialized way of life I experienced there.

We return to Ajijic often, and I am photographing the new elements of the town, along with some of the older ones that remain. That work is in color and tied more to the build environment images I am making in Texas. The black and white images, however, were made as straight documents of what life in Ajijic was like at the time.
Photo documentary story / Photojournal by US Photographer Peter Calvin . (Hits: 76728)

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